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(and how to tell the difference...)
Partridge Pea is native to most of the Eastern half of the United States and supports habitat in a number of ways. The showier Chamaecrista fasciculata & smaller flowered Chamaecrista nictitans are most widely distributed species there are multiple species with populations in only one or two states.
Partridge pea is a source of pollen for both generalist and specialist native bees. The flowers are not visited by butterflies and moths because they don’t produce nectar. When blooming partridge pea is literally buzzing with the sound of bumblebees! (turn the volume up on the video!)
The nectar action on partridge pea is on the base of the stem of each leave where the extrafloral nectaries are located. Ants and wasps visiting the nectaries ward off insect herbivores. Other insects including butterflies and bees will stop by for a sip.
according to the National Wildlife Federation site designed to categorize the top host plants by zip code, in metro Atlanta partridge pea is a host plant for the caterpillars of 11 butterfly and moth species including the cloudless sulphur, lo moth, and grey hairstreak
Partridge pea is a is a legume and a nitrogen fixer, meaning little nodules on its roots have rhizobi bacteria that turn nitrogen from the air into a form the partridge pea can us - with important soil building attributes.
In suburban and urban settings, the dried seeds of partridge pea are eaten by goldfinches and other seed eating birds such as mourning doves. In more rural places, it's a main seed source for the Northern bobwhite and other quail species that are in decline.
Partridge pea will form thickets that offer cover for wildlife
As an annual, partridge pea is an early succession plant and great for new habitat planting areas where it will self-seed with abandon to quickly offer habitat. Without intervention, partridge pea will eventually fade away as other long-lived perennials take its place. It pops up in my yard where other plants haven’t filled in including a hot, dry area with lean soil where little else grows. (Partridge pea seem to flourish in this challenging area of my front yard)
When dried, the seed pods twist and fling the seeds away from the plant. One memorable fall afternoon I was walking by a field at the Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center in Chattanooga when I heard an odd but distinct sound I couldn’t place – I realized as I looked closer that the sound was coming from the dried partridge pea pods popping open! (turn up the volume to hear the dried pea pods snapping)
Partridge pea is used along streambanks and road banks for restoration and erosion control.
Partridge pea grows about 2-3 feet depending on condition and adapts well to containers. In the summer it’s one of the backbone native plants in my container micro-prairie.
Partridge pea might be hard to find at native plant nurseries because it’s an annual. It has a high germination rate and is easy to sow in the fall or to winter sow. Once you have a few plants, you’ll be good to go for a few years or more if it doesn’t have any competition. You can find the seeds at most native seed nurseries.
At some point in the summer when partridge pea is in full bloom invasive chamberbitter (Phyllanthus urinaria) starts popping up just about everywhere to create botanical confusion. It is also known as gripeweed, little mimosa, shatterstone, stonebreaker, or leafflower depending on where you live.
Like partridge pea, chamberbitter is also an annual, but it’s native to Asia and is invading natural areas in the South from North Carolina through Texas. In mid-summer when things heat up, this pernicious plant seems appear overnight, grows fast and reseeds prolifically. It also does fine in the shade and develops a surprisingly strong root system in a short time. Not surprisingly it’s also related to the invasive mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin)!
Partridge pea and chamberbitter are both annuals that look similar at first glance but are not related. They both fold their leaves together at night, when the plant is stressed from drought, and to some extent if touched - but this is where the similarities end - their value in the habitat is night and day. Chamberbitter displaces native plants, is not visited by native bees, does not host butterfly or moth caterpillars, and the seeds are not desired by native birds.
It’s easy to tell these two lookalikes apart once the partridge pea blooms because it’s buzzing with bumblebees visiting the abundant yellow flowers. Without flowers, it can be hard to tell the difference unless you know some simple tricks.
One clue is what time of year the plant pops up. By midsummer, unless you already have a patch of partridge pea, pretty much anything that randomly appears is chamberbitter which is a summer weed. Partridge pea comes up in spring, not summer.
It’s also not as likely that partridge pea will appear in an urban or suburban yard unless it is intentionally planted, or a neighbor is growing it. Chamberbitter is everywhere!
The best way to tell the difference between the two is to turn over the leaves. The chamberbitter has tiny white flowers, then greenish yellow, warty-like fruit attached along the center stem underneath the leaves as it grows – and partridge pea doesn’t. The larger the plant, the easier it is to identify chamberbitter by the fruit.
Annual native plants like partridge pea need a little more attention as the ecologically informed yard movement gains traction. Annuals are a good option for anyone who is interested in restoring habitat and having a healthy yard but is not necessarily all that interested in gardening. Partridge peas checks all the boxes for an easy care native plant that all but ensures success - it's self-sowing, low maintenance and contributes biodiversity to the ecosystem. (This video of a cloudless sulphur butterfly laying eggs and a bumblebee getting pollen from a partridge pea plant was taken on my container garden micro-prairie)
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